Renewable energy systems are difficult to implement because they tend to be small and distributed. For example, a residential solar hot water system can generate enough savings to justify the cost of installing and maintaining the system, but the average homeowner may not have sufficient knowledge or confidence in the systems to install one. Likewise, residential solar photovoltaic systems can also generate enough savings to justify the cost of installing and maintaining the system, particularly when tax incentives and other programs can be used to reduce the cost of the system, but the average homeowner might not be familiar enough with the availability of tax incentives, and may also be risk averse to relatively new technology. Because of the inherent risks involved with system repairs and unknown costs for each individual system, renewable energy systems are not being adopted rapidly. Presently, customers who purchase renewable energy systems have a tremendous burden with regard to upfront cost, which are currently amortized for tax and other purposes over twenty years.